The invention relates to a method for controlling the position of a permanent magnetically supported rotating component, e.g. of the rotor of a synchronous motor without brushes, by means of a position determination of this component by means of a position sensory analysis and additional control current coils, influencing the magnetic field of the permanent magnetic support and which current value is determined by the position of the component. The synchronous motor can for example serve as a drive for an axial fluid delivery pump.
Multiphase fluids, e.g. emulsions and dispersions with a low stability can easily reach into instable areas during the delivery in corresponding delivery systems.
An especially sensitive fluid is blood. Blood is hermetically shielded in the natural recirculation system from the environment, so that no foreign interferences are acting upon it. If, however, the necessity exists, to substitute the heart by an artificial blood pump or to support the recirculation by an additional heart pump, reactions of the blood with the technical system are produced. The blood is subjected, then, easily to the haemolysis or the formation of thrombus with the corresponding disadvantageous effects for the patient. Therefore, recently large efforts were made, to form fluid delivery pumps in such a way, that the blood or other sensitive fluids are subjected to the lowest possible mechanical influences. One possibility for this is the magnetic support of the rotating element of a pump drive. The advantage of the magnetic support is not only, that no components mechanically in a frictional way are present any more, but that also the achievable rotational acceleration of the rotating element is increased and the controllability of the rotational speed and therewith, of the volume flow can be improved.
Such a fluid pump can be integrated in the known way in a synchronous motor without brushes. The fluid pump consists according to WO 00/640 30 essentially of a cylindrical tube, which can be connected at both sides to a fluid system. The tube is surrounded by the stator, consisting of the metal packet, the winding and the iron flux return hood. The rotor comprises permanent magnetic field exciters and has on its outer cover delivery devices for the fluid, so that the fluid can be axially delivered in the annular space between the tube and the rotor.
The rotor is magnetically supported. It carries for the purpose on its both end sides cylindrical or annular permanent magnets attached thereon, which are magnetised in the axial direction. The permanent magnets of the rotor are opposed by counter magnetised permanent magnets, which e.g. can be arranged in the end sides of guiding devices, which themselves are mounted in the cylindrical tube.
Both magnet pairs act stabilisingly in radial direction, when they are orientated to attract each other, i.e., the radial support is passively stable. The rotor is, however, instable in the axial direction.
Without additional stabilisation the rotor would be attracted by one of the two pairs of permanent magnets. Therefore, control coils are arranged on the stator sides in such a way, that a current weakens by the in series connected control coils the magnetic field of one of the pairs of permanent magnets and increases the magnetic field of the other pair of permanent magnets. The control current has to be adjusted in dependency of the actual axial rotor position. For this, the rotor position has to be determined by means of position sensors.
The position sensors consist for example of two sensor coils, which can be arranged on the end sides of the guiding devices. The sensor coils are opposed on the ends of the rotor by aluminium bodies, in which eddy currents are formed, when the sensor coils are loaded by an alternating current. By the axial movement of the rotor a change in the inductance of the sensor coils is produced, which in an arrangement in a bridge connection can be evaluated as a measuring signal for the rotor position.
As especially in a pulsating flow through the pump disturbing forces act continuously on the rotor, the position control has to be able to quickly adjust a changed axial rotor position. On the other hand the control current should cause a low dissipation, which is especially important for blood pumps, as the produced heat energy should be kept as small as possible. Furthermore, the drive energy has to be taken from implanted batteries, which operation time should be as long as possible.